1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to archery equipment, and, more particularly, to an archery bow carrying apparatus worn by an archer.
2. Description of the Related Art
During hunting and field archery events, an archer may find it necessary to carry a bow, such as a compound bow, for considerable distances. The weight of the bow may be increased if the bow includes a mounted arrow quiver that is loaded with arrows. To further increase the challenges faced by the archer, there is often the need to traverse difficult terrain, as well as the need to be ready to shoot in short order. As such, an archer may elect to hold the bow by the bow handle in one hand to be ready for use, which may be physically tiring due to the weight of the bow and the bow accessories. Also, at all times the bow is carried, only one hand is left free to assist in facilitating travel, e.g., to assist in climbing hills or moving underbrush out of the way. Thus, at times the archer may find that it would be particularly advantageous to have both hands free, e.g., to negotiate through the underbrush so as to proceed as quietly as possible.
Over a considerable period of time, several attempts have been made to provide a bow support worn by the archer to aid in carrying the bow.
In one such attempt, such as for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,154, a releasable hook/attachment cord arrangement is provided wherein the attachment cord may be looped around the bow handle or a portion of the limb of the bow. However, supporting a compound bow by the handle results in a natural rest state of the bow wherein the string is facing downwardly. Accordingly, either the bow must be rotated 180 degrees in order to bring the bow to a natural position for the archer to grasp the handle, or the bow is carried counter to its natural rest state and the string exerts pressure against the archer in attempting to rotate to the natural rest state.
In another such attempt, such as for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,987, a center-mount bowstring holder includes a shoulder/neck sling attached to a unitary member having two spaced hooks that directly engage the bowstring, with the arrow nock end positioned between the two hooks. By engaging the hooks with the bowstring, the bow may be carried in a more natural position. However, with this design the hooks have the potential to slide along the bowstring, which may result in dislodging the arrow nock from the bowstring, thereby causing the arrow to fall. Also, by directly engaging the bowstring with the two hooks, the two hooks may rub and wear the bowstring during normal use, which may lead to premature and unpredictable string failure that may result in damage to the bow and/or injury to the archer.